In mobile radio communication networks, such as cellular telephone systems, neighboring radio cells provide coverage of a geographical area to be serviced. Each cell includes a base station (BS) operating on a set of radio channels. Over such radio channels, communications are provided to and from mobile subscribers. A mobile switching center (MSC) controls calls between a group of base stations and the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), the Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN), and one or more Public Land Mobile Radio Networks (PLMN).
All mobile communication networks provide basic call services required for making and receiving calls in home and in visiting mobile communications networks. In fact, known cellular systems like the Nordic Mobile Telephone system (NMT), the Total Access Communication System (TACS), the American Digital Cellular system (ADC), the Global System for Mobile communication (GSM), and the Pacific Digital Cellular system (PDC) have adopted standard techniques for providing such basic services. In addition to connecting calls to/from individual mobile subscribers, basic services may also include services available to all mobile subscribers without requiring an individual service subscription.
Mobile communication networks typically also offer mobile subscribers the opportunity to subscribe to supplementary services. These supplementary services generally require an individual subscription. In addition to call switching, routing, and charging functions, the MSC may also be tasked with performing these supplementary services which may include for example, call waiting, call forwarding, and call barring. Supplemental service subscription information for mobile subscribers is usually stored in corresponding database records in a central database within the mobile communications network. Further, the mobile communications network operator may also store in a mobile subscriber's database record information pertaining to operator-determined or operator-initiated services such as Operator-Determined call Barring (ODB). For purposes of this description, the supplementary services for which information is stored in a mobile subscriber's database record are collectively referred to as Mobile Communications Network (MCN) supplementary services.
Recently, yet another category of services may be provided to mobile subscribers using Intelligent Networks (IN). Using standard service logic blocks, Intelligent Network-based services allow relatively fast and flexible creation and implementation of new supplementary services to subscribers. An IN database stores subscriptions for individual subscribers. To distinguish from MCN supplementary services, the term IN-based supplementary services is used in the following description.
With such a wide variety of supplementary services offered from different sources, these services may not be consistent and coordinated with each other. This leads to the possibility that a call will be handled inappropriately. One of the obstacles to attaining such consistency and coordination is that the Service Control Point (SCP) in the intelligent network, (the SCP includes the logic employed in rendered IN-based supplementary services), is unaware of the MCN subscriber information stored in the central database in the MCN. In fact, this lack of coordination/communication may even allow mobile subscribers to (intentionally or unintentionally) circumvent restrictions or other limitations placed by one supplementary service using the other supplementary service. The following example illustrates this problem.
In this example, the MCN central database stores in a particular mobile subscriber's database record an Operator-Determined call Barring (ODB) category which prohibits that mobile subscriber from making international calls or forwarding incoming calls to international destinations. A Service Control Point (SCP) in the Intelligent Network offers a call forwarding service to the same mobile subscriber independent from the MCN-based services. It is not possible for the SCP in the IN network to check the status of any operator-determined call barring service for that particular mobile subscriber in the MCN central database. As a part of the IN-based call forwarding service, the mobile subscriber indicates a desired call forward-to number. Assume the mobile subscriber registers an international number as the call forward-to number. Then the IN-based call forwarding stores an international forward-to number without the registered number being checked against the ODB service. Consequently the IN-based service, unaware that international calls are not allowed by the ODB service, sets up an international call to the call forward-to international number.
One way to prevent this kind of problem is manual checking by human operators. However, manual checking requires that the data in the MCN database be compared with the data in the IN-based database for each mobile subscriber. This is both time consuming and costly. This disadvantage is further exacerbated in that many IN-based services permit subscribers to change their subscription parameters at will. In the IN-based, call forwarding service, the mobile subscriber can change the call forward-to number as frequently as the mobile subscriber desires simply by dialing in to an automated IN-service interface and changing the call forward-to number. Frequent changes of subscriber data make the manual check ineffective since manual checks cannot realistically be performed on a continuous basis. The ability to detect circumvented service restrictions or inconsistent services is also complicated by another factor. The commercial or business entities that own various network nodes may also be different. Coordinating a manual check between such different entities can be difficult.
What is needed is a mechanism by which supplementary services delivered to mobile subscribers by different service providers can be coordinated. In addition, it would be desirable to have such service coordination to prevent inconsistent or otherwise improper delivery of supplementary services.
It is an object of the present invention to coordinate the provision of supplementary services to mobile subscribers offered by plural supplementary service providers.
It is a further object of the present invention to coordinate the provision and delivery of MCN-based and IN-based supplementary services to mobile subscribers.
It is yet another object of the present invention to prevent inconsistent or improper provision of supplementary services to mobile subscribers.
A mobile communications system provides mobile communication services from different supplementary service providers to mobile subscribers. A first database stores first subscriber information pertaining to the mobile subscribers. A first service provider provides a first supplementary service to one of the mobile subscribers using the first subscriber information stored in the first database for the mobile subscriber. A second database stores second subscriber information pertaining to subscribers. A second service provider provides a second supplementary service to the mobile subscriber using the second subscriber information stored in the second database for that mobile subscriber. The second service provider coordinates provision of the second supplementary service to the mobile subscriber using some of the first subscriber information obtained from the first database.
The first subscriber information may include mobile identification, mobile location, mobile status, mobile network operator data, and supplementary subscription information. The first subscriber information may indicate, for example, some sort of call restriction, and the second subscriber information may pertain to forwarding calls. In that situation, the second service provider uses some of the first subscriber information relating to call restrictions obtained from the first database to detect possible misuse of the second supplementary call forwarding service. The service provider may then modify the second supplementary service or not provide the second supplementary service at all.
In an example preferred embodiment of the present invention in the context of a GSM-type mobile network, the first database may be a mobile communications network (MCN) database, and the first service provider may be an MCN mobile switching center (MSC). The second service provider may be an Intelligent Network (IN) service control node that includes service logic for providing an IN-based supplementary service. More specifically, the MCN database may correspond to a Home Location Register (HLR) and the IN service control node may correspond to a Service Control Point (SCP) that also includes an IN database storing IN subscription information. Communications between the HLR and SCP may be formatted in accordance with the Mobile Applications Part (MAP) communications protocol.
A method of providing services to mobile subscribers in accordance with the invention advantageously coordinates provision of an IN-based service to a mobile subscriber using MCN subscriber information obtained from the HLR associated with that mobile subscriber. More specifically, a call involving one of the mobile subscribers is analyzed to detect a trigger of the IN-based service. The detected trigger results in IN-based service being invoked at the Service Control Point. The SCP requests from the HLR one or more parameters of the MCN subscriber information pertaining to the one mobile subscriber. The SCP analyzes the parameter(s) returned from the HLR in response to the request. In particular, the SCP determines the IN-based services consistent with the parameter(s) returned by the HLR. If the IN-based service is inconsistent with the parameter(s) returned by the HLR, the SCP modifies or does not deliver the IN-based service. Therefore, if the IN-based supplementary service is call forwarding and the MCN subscriber information corresponding to the one mobile subscriber affects call forwarding, e.g., call barring, the IN-based call forwarding service is provided using the MCN subscriber information so as to not circumvent the operator-determined call barring service.